As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems may often be coupled to one another via peer-to-peer networking. A peer-to-peer (often abbreviated to “P2P”) network is one in which each information handling system in the network can act as a client or server for the other information handling systems in the network, allowing shared access to various resources such as files, peripherals, and sensors without the need for a central server. Peer-to-peer networks can be set up within the home, a business, or over the Internet.
Of particular concern in peer-to-peer networks is security, in order to guard a particular information handling system from unwanted attacks from other information handling systems. Most traditional peer-to-peer networks employ a simple security mechanism to help guard the network from unwanted attacks or usage. In such approaches, peers attempt to connect to one another, pass a simple security check, then either proceed with data transfer or disconnect depending on the security check. In larger peer-to-peer environments, this simple security mechanism is insufficient, typically because not all potential peers can be thought of as being at the same level of trust.